Just a kid?
by EvilWaffleS
Summary: Written for Dragonridingattorney43. Adrian's codependancy makes her fall in love with to one man she considered a kid - is he though? MattxAdrian oneshot


Ok now I've finished my M rated story. Here's…another request for my good friend Dragonridingattorney43. This is a MattxAdrian oneshot. – EvilWaffles xx

* * *

Adrian Andrews hated Matt Engarde with a passion; it was thanks to him Inpax had killed herself. After all, he told her fiancé Juan Corrida he'd been having an affair with the woman. Adrian knew it was a lie; the man was a compulsive liar, especially to Juan. Despite all this though, she found herself clinging to Matt more and more. While her outer shell showed a strong independent woman, inside she was emotionally unstable and since Celeste's suicide and her own failed attempt she clung to the only thing she had left – the perpetrator himself.

Matt was a stupid, childish man – using the cellphone wristwatch to call her up no matter what the hour for a simple request. Something like:

"Manager Dude!" He'd call.

"What is it Matt?"

"I don't know what colour wine to drink!" Then, Adrian would sigh heavily, press her glasses to her face then pick a random colour.

"Red." She'd reply.

"Thanks!" These 'what colour wine?' calls were always late in evening, or rather early in the morning – usually between midnight and two. During the conversation he never, never acknowledged her as a woman – always referring to her as 'dude'.

It gave her something to pass the time when he called. She had figured him out to be in two…quite possibly three layers. The first layer was the childish, brat like boy who wouldn't grow up and open his eyes until it was too late. The second layer was the schemer, the one who told Juan about Celeste and his passionate affairs. The third was well…he had a heart in there somewhere right? _He has too… _She'd think.

*

In the morning, for the first time in years she chose to contact her older sister. She made sure nobody knew about her family, just in case.

"Hello?"

"Um…hey Lisa, it's Adrian." She mumbled shyly into the phone.

"Hey honey! What's up?" It was very rare, the business related, isolated Adrian rang the likes of her.

"Um…It's about Matt…"

"That bratty kid you work for?" She couldn't help but blurt out a laugh.

"Don't laugh! This is serious." She scolded.

"Unless he threw himself under a bus, I don't really care about him. Even then I'd just want to dance on his grave."

"Lisa!"

"Alright, geez it was a joke, lighten up honey." She chuckled. "Alright, I'll behave."

"I keep wanting to kill Matt but then…"

"Wahoo! You're gonna kill the little spoilt kid!" Lisa cheered.

"I'm not!" She snapped. "I can't bring myself to do it. Every time he annoys me, I take it and get this strange feeling in my gut…"

"Feeling?" Adrian was sure she heard '_Damn' _cursed under her sister's breath. "Hm…it could be…love."

"I'm not in love with him!" Adrian yelled in disgust.

"Honey, I've been a therapist for a long time. If there was one thing I've learned it's that odds are, if you want to kill someone you actually love them to bits." Lisa knew Adrianna – being the shy girl she was would never admit it. "Adrianna, you'll have to accept that."

"You're lying! Don't call me that name either! My name's Adrian!" She hissed. "I have to get ready for work now!" The line went dead.

She hastily readied herself for work, putting her familiar blue outfit on then grabbing her pink schedule planner from the desk. Her old car was running to the end of it's lifespan but it had still managed to get her to work that morning.

"Mornin' Adrian." The man working security on the door tipped his hat down in respect.

"Good morning." She smiled her fake, plastic smile and ran ahead, her heels clicking hard against the sidewalk.

As she continued to walk down to the staff area of the studios she heard the roar of Matt's motorcycle. It slowed as he approached her, before she realised it, he was riding alongside her. He unclipped his helmet while still guiding the bike beside her.

"Hey manager!" He smiled his brat like smile at her.

"Matt…"

"Manager dude, what's the first appointment for today?"

"Can this wait until we're inside?" She asked, paying more attention to the two butterflies fluttering in front of her.

"That's nice. You don't even look at me…" He pouted. "Alright." He rode on ahead. She knelt down in front of the flowers where the butterflies had landed.

"Stupid man…" She watched as the two butterflies fluttered carelessly around each other. "I'd love to be as carefree as you two." She smiled then stood and brushed the grass off her knees.

*

As soon as Matt entered the staff area, he never took any notice of anything in the room – the people, the new notices – anything. Instead, he would just push his way through the groups of people to his dressing room. Once in there he'd throw his helmet on the couch, remove the bottle of cola from his bag and leave it on the dressing table then check his hair in the mirror.

He was there for about five minutes, messing with his fringe making sure it was absolutely perfect. Adrian burst through the door, crying.

"Ever heard of knocking boss?" He closed the door and looked at the usually calm and collected woman. She was on the couch; her head slumped in her hands. "Boss?"

"Get away!" She screamed. He saw the crumpled paper in her hand, prizing it open with as much strength as he could muster he studied it. It was a picture, probably drawn by one of the animators of her with a pistol to her head. Underneath it said: Andrews, you failed once – try again. He tried to move her hands and when he did he was met by a swift slap across the face.

"Hey!" He bit then sighed. "…Look it's just the animators being jerks again." She cried a couple more times then pulled herself together.

"For a kid, you speak some pretty good sense."

"Wait! Kid? I'm not a kid!"

"Come on, we've got a busy day." She suddenly said in her usual professional manner, cleaning her classes on her shirt.

"Mr Engarde. Your limo is ready." He heard the knock on the door.

"Um…ok!" He turned back to his boss. "Where are we going?"

"Press conference." She replied coolly.

As they left, Matt made a mental note to make sure that he dealt with whichever animator was responsible for the picture on his return.

*

He did just that. He made sure Adrian had gone to get her food before he snuck away. He crossed the road that ran from his staff area to the animators' trailer.

"Which one of you did this?" He demanded as he held the crumpled image in his hand. They all laughed and one person's laughter was louder, more distinct. "It was you, wasn't it?" He asked the middle aged man in the wrecked baseball cap at the opposite side of the room.

"Yeah, what of it? Come here to appreciate my artistic talent?" He chuckled.

"No!" He punched him in the nose, breaking it and making it bleed.

"What the hell? Man what's up with you? Take a joke!"

"You picked the wrong guy's manager to mess with!" He cracked his knuckles then left.

He snuck back to his trailer after that and sat with his headphones in and sipping the cola.

"I just heard what you did!" She sounded angry; he'd done her a favour – hadn't he?

"I thought it'd make you feel better…"

"Feel better?" She couldn't believe it. Since when did the brat ever care about her feelings anyway? If he cared so much, why didn't he stop ringing her in the middle of the night rather than punch the animator. She couldn't say anything; she just slapped him again, this time though it stung worst. She then turned on her heels and walked away.

"H-hey wait!"

She turned the key in the car's ignition over and over and yet the car wouldn't start.

"Stupid piece of junk!" She slammed her fist on the dashboard. Why that afternoon? All the other staff had gone home but her and Matt – the guy she'd just had an argument with.

"Please Mr Engarde!" She begged.

"No, you didn't even give me chance to explain myself! You're getting what you deserve!" He snapped, grabbing his helmet. "Lock the door when you've finished in here."

"Please-!" She cried again.

"It's called Karma boss, you should learn to live with it." The second layer of Matt shone through. He left in a huff.

He was a few kilometres down the road when a strange feeling overwhelmed him, like he had drunk a foul cocktail of guilt and regret. Why had he yelled at the woman who treated him so well – who he (although he hated to admit it) loved. Ignoring the traffic in the next lane beside him, he swung the bike back round and rode back towards the studios.

Now she was alone, she contemplated her earlier actions. Matt was the man she saw in her dreams – there was no point lying to herself anymore. That was why she didn't understand why she'd slapped him – twice. He was only doing what he thought was right and she was punishing him for it. She lay down, holding one of the pillows to her chest and resting her head on the other.

"Do you like motorbikes?" A voice asked as she closed her eyes.

"I've never been on one…" Her eyes fluttered open as she felt a hand on her side. "Matt? What are you doing back here?"

"It's a long story, I'll explain later." He smiled a charming smile. "How'd you feel about coming back to my place with me?"

"I…guess…" She replied shyly. "I need to talk to you anyway." He removed his helmet and fastened it carefully around her head. Then fastened his jacket over her.

He made sure to drive a little more slowly and carefully as he drove back to his mansion, taking the longer more scenic route. When he opened the door, his cat Shoe was waiting patiently for him, his butler (the one he hired before Shelly De Killer) bowed politely.

"Hey Shoe." He earned a purr from the small black and white kitten that followed him and his guest into the dining room. He explained to Adrian why he had gone back over a fine dinner (or at least it was to Adrian – anything beyond cheap processed rubbish was fine to her).

She found herself on the couch, watching a movie, explaining to Matt the way she really felt about him.

"I'm sorry for slapping you by the way…" She blushed, he looked awfully cute without the red and white leather jacket and he looked like he worked out a lot.

"No problem." He smiled as the two wine glasses were refilled with the fine purple coloured drink. "I only did what I thought was right…I'm really sorry if it wasn't."

"I guess it was…kind of the right thing…" She glanced down at the glasses on the table. "I guess I just over reacted."

"You're not as independent as you make out. Are you?"  
"You're good. I guess you're not really a kid after all."

"That's good." He laughed to himself as he handed her one of the two wine glasses. "New beginnings?" He offered. She clicked the glass against his.  
"New beginnings."

They'd finished those glasses and at least half a glass more.

"Ugh…I think I'm a little drunk…" Adrian slurred as she rested her head against Matt's shoulder, her breath smelled strong of the fruits.

"I think you should get some sleep…" He picked her up in one swoop and carried her up the stairs to his bedroom. He pushed all her weight (which wasn't much) onto one arm and pulled back the sheets. He lowered her gently into the bed, removed her shoes and laid them on the floor then her glasses which he left on the bedside table.

"Goo…night…" She slurred sleepily.

"Night Adrianna." He chuckled.

"How'd you know?"

"I read your file in the office at work…" He whispered. "Night then Adrian." He had gone back into the room five minutes later to leave the note he hoped she'd read in the morning.

"Shoe, come on in now fur ball!" He called his kitten back from the garden. He cleaned himself up then retired to a smaller bedroom for the night.

-x-x-

"Go on then Shoe. Out you go." He opened the window so the early morning breeze could energize him. Noticing how early it was, Matt crawled back under the paper thin sheet.

In the other room, Adrian shook herself back to reality. All she remembered was Matt Engarde. _My car was broke…Matt brought me back here… _She groped blindly at the bedside table until she felt the frame of her glasses. She pushed them gently on her face and realised she still had all her clothes on. _At least the guy knows how to treat a woman with respect. _She opened the folded piece of paper with her name scrawled on.

_Hey there sleeping beauty, if you need me for anything I'm going to be in the bedroom down the hall to your left._

He woke as he felt a weight on top of him.

"Morning…"

"Oh mornin'" He yawned sleepily. She hugged against him as he sat up in the bed. She was so unsure of herself as she made the next move, she tried to kiss him but didn't know how…

Matt made up for her shyness, pulling her onto his waist and running his hand through her silky blonde hair while kissing her as deeply as he could.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After Matt was found guilty for Corrida's murder almost a year later he kissed Adrian's forehead and whispered that it didn't matter she planted that false evidence as vengeance for Inpax's death or that she testified against him. He still loved her and longed to be with her. As he was dragged away in chains he pressed a blue box into her hand. She opened it slowly, inside was a diamond ring, unlike one she had seen before. Written on the inside lid was:

_This is my promise I will come back, please do me the honour of becoming my wife before that day…_

She was in tears all that night until the giddiness in her stomach distracted her. She ran to the bathroom and rummaged through the cabinet. She found what she was looking for.

After following the instructions carefully she held the pregnancy test up to her eyes. It displayed the result she was expecting – a pink line. She was pregnant with Matt Engarde's baby.

"Looks like I'll have two pieces of good news for him tomorrow…" She said confidently to her reflection. "After all…I love him with all my heart…"


End file.
